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United States Patent | 5,697,240 |
Parker | December 16, 1997 |
A system for determining the bend in a section of pipe which is being bent by a bending machine which includes a stiffback and a pinup shoe. The pipe to be bent is placed in the stiffback and extends out the end at the pinup shoe and its angle S.sub.i is obtained of the pipe with respect to the horizontal. An outboard and an inboard cylinder force the pipe and the stiffback against a die to obtain a bend. This system is especially good for determining the angle of bend when the bending machine is on a non-level surface. After such bending, the angle of the pipe S.sub.h at the pinup shoe with respect to the horizon is made, and then subtracting S.sub.i from S.sub.n to obtain the angle of bend of the pipe. In another embodiment the angle detector is calibrated to read zero when the angle detector is measuring the actual angle the pipe makes with the horizontal before the pipe is bent.
Inventors: | Parker; William David (Tulsa, OK) |
Assignee: | Sabre International, Inc. (Tulsa, OK) |
Appl. No.: | 727048 |
Filed: | October 8, 1996 |
Current U.S. Class: | 72/31.05; 72/369; 72/389.7 |
Intern'l Class: | B21C 051/00 |
Field of Search: | 72/16.2,17.3,387,369,389.1,389.7,31.04,31.05,31.1,31.12 |
4131003 | Dec., 1978 | Foster et al. | 72/31. |
4649726 | Mar., 1987 | Trammell et al. | 72/34. |
4912957 | Apr., 1990 | Peterson et al. | 72/17. |
5222384 | Jun., 1993 | Evans | 72/31. |
5239850 | Aug., 1993 | Shimokata | 72/17. |
5305223 | Apr., 1994 | Saegusa | 72/31. |